


through the mists

by 101places



Series: Inhuman!Simmons AU [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Catatonia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Dates, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Inhuman Jemma Simmons, Jemma Simmons Has PTSD, Jemma Simmons-centric, Kissing, Meditation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, mindfulness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 09:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/101places/pseuds/101places
Summary: Instead of being sucked through an alien monolith, Simmons breathes a lungful of alien gas. She isn't sure which is worse.( AKA : inhuman simmons au )





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so my first aos multi-chap fic. yay! ive got the whole thing plotted & ideas for future stuff so fun times!
> 
> while this is tagged as fitzsimmons, that isn't really the focus. i mean it's still a big part, and is endgame, but there are other relationships explored & this is really more of a character-centric fic than anything. that being said if you like fs i think there should still be enough content here for u!
> 
> this chapter is mostly set-up. simmons ability is a form of emotion absorption & projection bc i thought it's what she'd hate to be stuck with the most, though this'll be explored more in later chapters
> 
> anyway thats enough of me going off, thanks for reading, as always if u leave comments/kudos i'll love you for all of eternity! also follow my twitter @/traineryeliow despite the layout i talk about marvel & aos a lot & post snippets frm fics sometimes /sorry for the shameless self-plug

The lab was beautifully quiet. It seemed that everyone was busy elsewhere, and while Simmons certainly didn’t like it when they faced tragedies that caused such business, she had to admit that there was something very nice about finally getting a moment of peace to herself.

Right now, her job was simple. She had to catalogue a few artefacts that had been recovered from Afterlife. Nothing too strenuous and, in all honesty, something of a waste of her talents, but she wasn’t complaining. She could be done with this soon, and then she could check up on Bobbi again and retire for the night.

With a smile, she turned to pick up one of the artefacts on the counter behind her and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw that she wasn’t the only one in the room after all.

“Fitz!” She exclaimed, leaning against the counter. “Sorry. I didn’t hear you come in. How long have you been stood there?”

Fitz shuffled on the spot awkwardly. “U-um, not- uh- I haven’t been here for- not for long.”

“Well, I’m nearly done here. If you don’t have anything better to do, perhaps you should ask Coulson for an assignment?” Simmons turned her attention back to her work.

“Right. Yeah. I could- I could do that. But, um, actually, I came here because- I wanted to- um- dinner? I thought we could- could have dinner.”

“Yes, yes. I am sure that we will.”

Fitz frowned and walked over, realising that Simmons wasn’t catching on to what he was trying to say. “No, that’s not- what I meant was- maybe we could- if you’d like- we could have dinner… together. Somewhere…” He tried to lean forwards on the counter, but accidentally hit one of the artefacts- a dusty old book- onto the floor. “...nice?”

Simmons finally paused, slowly looking up at him with a surprised expression. “Oh.”

Fitz looked up at her expectantly.

Simmons brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “...I’d like that.”

Fitz matched her smile with one of his own and started to back out towards the door, getting his aim slightly off and bumping into the wall instead. He quickly corrected his trajectory and reached out for the handle, opening the door. “I’ll- um- I’ll find some- I’ll get some options to- uh- to run by you.”

Simmons watched him go, still smiling fondly. After a moment she went back to her work, walking over to pick up the book that Fitz had dropped onto the floor. She looked it over, turning it over in her hands and blowing some of the dust from it, waving her hand over the cloud that rose up in response.

Curiously, she flipped it open, intending to skim over a few pages before cataloguing it. This, however, turned out to be a mistake.

As soon as she opened the book another cloud erupted, but Simmons knew straight away that this one was not simply dust. She dropped the book and tried to put as much distance as she could between herself and the cloud, but it was too late. She’d already breathed the gas in.

Simmons looked down in horror as she felt a hard crust traveling up her arms. She wondered if this was it- if after everything, she was going to die only when she finally felt that she might have a future left for her after all.

She wondered if this is how Trip had felt.

Inside the cocoon, she felt claustrophobic. She couldn’t move- could hardly even breathe. She only felt her panic increase when the lack of air to her lungs painfully reminded her of the last time she hadn’t been able to breathe.

Then, slowly, she felt energy return to her body. She was able to twitch her fingers, and felt the heavy crust drop away. She balled her hands into fists and stretched her arms, moving as much of her body as she could to break out of the shell that had enclosed her. When she was finally free, she dropped to the ground alongside the husk, breathing heavily.

For a while she stayed there, her mind racing as she tried to process what had just happened. Was that terrigenesis?

She held up her hands, inspecting them, then brought them up to her face, rubbing across her cheeks. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. There were no spikes come out from her skin, no eyes missing from her face, and no shockwaves spilling from her hands.

Perhaps it had been a fluke. Perhaps the terrigen in the book was a low dosage- not meant to kill or transform anyone, but simply a warning.

Yes, that must be right, she thought, slowly pulling herself to her feet and brushing herself down so the remaining shards of the husk fell to the floor. What a mess. She’d have to clean that up- there was no point in leaving it for someone else to find, after all. That would simply be rude, and there was no need for that.

She gathered up the largest parts of the husk, depositing them in the chemical waste bin, then went back for the smaller shards. She knew that she should still inform someone about what had happened. Even if it was just a bit of a fright, it was best to keep all relevant parties up-to-date. That was the protocol in these types of situations, after all. The rules existed for a reason, and Simmons had always preferred to follow them.

Then, her phone chimed.

She paused in her clean-up work and went over to see what it was, smiling when she saw Fitz’s name light up her screen. He had texted her a list of restaurants, wanting her to pick between them for where they should go.

Simmons frowned lightly. She knew that she should raincheck on this. She should spend the night in quarantine until they were absolutely certain that the terrigen gas really had just been nothing.

But…

One night would be fine, surely.

She felt fine. She  _ was _ fine. There was no harm in ignoring protocol once in a while- and hadn’t she let poor Fitz down enough already?

With her mind made up, she text Fitz her reply, before leaving the lab to get ready for her date.

.

Everything felt a little bit odd as she walked through the Playground, but she decided that it must have just been the stress making her more sensitive to sensory overload than normal. That was the only rational explanation for the sensation- as if every cell in her body was on edge, reaching out for  _ something _ .

She tried to push it out of her mind. She was going on a date with Fitz. There was no need to feel overwhelmed.

She showered quickly and picked out a fitting outfit, before sitting down and taking her time to put on some light make-up. Around when she was finishing up there was a gentle knock on the door. “Come in!”

The door opened and Fitz was stood there, a nervous smile on his face. “You- um- you look- you look good.”

“Thank you.” She smiled back, trying to ignore her own nervousness that had suddenly turned up. She supposed that seeing Fitz had made it all feel a bit more real. “I’m ready when you are.”

Fitz gave a little nod and offered her his hand, which she gladly took. His hand felt warmer than normal, but Simmons didn’t dwell on that and, instead, took a breath to calm the nervousness in the pit of her stomach and started to lead the way out of the base.

On the way to the restaurant, the pair talked casually in the same manner as they had for the past years that they had been friends, though it was clear that they were both beating around the bush. Under normal circumstances, Simmons would have wanted to just come out with it- tell him why she left, what she felt after his confession at the bottom of the ocean. She wanted to clear the air between them so that they could walk into this- whatever  _ this _ would become- without any baggage.

But she couldn’t quite get herself to focus.

It was like there was a buzzing in her head, or something just there in her peripheral vision, that she could neither pull into focus or completely ignore.

When they finally arrived at the restaurant, things only became worse.

The buzzing in her head became louder, until it was surrounding her on all sides. She followed behind Fitz on auto-pilot, sitting down on the chair that he pulled out for her and picking up the menu to hide her face. She couldn’t get herself to read anything listed on it, however, with her gaze darting around to the couples all around them.

It felt like sensory overload, but somehow worse. The source of her problem wasn’t the sound or the sights- she was perfectly able to tune those out. It was something else. Something else all around her, smothering and suffocating her.

Distantly, she was aware of Fitz talking, but she couldn’t hear his words. She couldn’t hear anything over the buzzing of her mind, couldn’t concentrate on anything beyond the phantom sensations ghosting all across her body.

“I- I need to get some air.” She managed to choke out, standing suddenly and bolting out of the restaurant before she could see Fitz’s reaction.

Outside, it was beginning to get dark, and there was a chill in the air that made her realise that she had left her jacket on the back of her chair. It was too late to go back for it, though- she could feel whatever that sensation had been coming from the restaurant like a wall. There was no way that she could face that again.

She darted down the street, putting distance between herself and the restaurant with no real destination in mind. Her feet carried her to a small park a couple of blocks away and she practically collapsed on a bench, doubling over and digging her nails into her thighs as she tried to ground herself.

She had no idea what had just happened. All she knew was that she didn’t like it at all.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, trembling lightly on the park bench, before she felt what she could only describe as a strong wave of anxiety, followed swiftly by feet hitting concrete, slowly getting louder.

She lifted her head, looking at Fitz tiredly. His expression was one of pure confusion, and in his arms he held her jacket. “What’s happening?”

Simmons looked away and laughed humourlessly. “I wish I knew.”

Fitz sighed and walked closer, but the closer he came the more intense the wave of anxiety that had followed him became. Simmons recoiled back, bringing her hands up to clutch at her head.

Fitz got the message, stopping in his tracks, but the anxiety continued to grow. “Please just- go away.”

Simmons felt something hot and sharp, but Fitz began to back away. He was still within sight, but he was far enough away that the sensations that had come with him began to die down. After a few moments he pulled out his phone and, a few moments after, Simmons own phone dinged. She opened it up and looked at the message he’d sent.

[ SMS : Fitz ] : are you ok?

She felt fondness towards him, and began to type up a response.

[ SMS : Simmons ] : I don’t know.

[ SMS : Fitz ] : can you tell me whats happening

[ SMS : Simmons ] : I don’t know.

[ SMS : Simmons ] : I think something’s wrong. I don’t feel well.

[ SMS : Fitz ] : a panic attack?

[ SMS : Simmons ] : I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think something might have happened.

[ SMS : Fitz ] : what happened?

[ SMS : Simmons ] : When I was cataloguing. There was a book. It had a terrigen bomb inside.

[ SMS : Fitz ] : can i please come closer?

[ SMS : Simmons ] : No.

Fitz didn’t reply, and for a moment Simmons worried that she’d hurt his feelings, but her phone began to vibrate again and she saw that he was calling her. She hit the accept button and held her phone up to her ear.

“Jemma? Can you- I think- we should go back to the base.”

Simmons hugged her knees with her free hand. “I thought nothing had happened.”

“I know. I- I’m not- I’m not upset, and no one else will be, but I think- think we need to, need to make sure you’re safe. Is it- is it hurting you?”

“It’s not… hurting, exactly. It’s not painful. It’s just… I don’t know how to describe it. Overwhelming. Unpleasant.”

“Let’s get help?”

Simmons shook her head. “I don’t want to move.”

“Oh. Um. Okay. Then, um, let’s just- let’s stay here for- for a bit. We can go when you’re ready. I’ll just, um, I’ll- I’ll stay here.”

Simmons stayed quiet for a few, long moments, before hesitantly speaking up again. “...Fitz? I’m scared.”

“E-Everything’ll be okay. We can talk to Daisy, and- and she’ll know how to help, and- I’m not- I’ll- I’ll be there.”

Simmons fell silent again for longer, trying to focus on calming herself. Eventually she sighed and pulled herself to her feet. “Let’s go home.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a bit longer than i was hoping to get out- sorry! i just started college last week, so that's been taking up a lot of my time! after i've adjusted i should be able to get a more regular update schedule, but until then i'll try to get some writing done over the weekends!
> 
> this chapter is more bitty, with the team's initial reactions to simmons powers & some set-up. next chapter is where things start kicking off properly!
> 
> as always kudos/comments feed my soul
> 
> thank you for reading & i hope you enjoy^^

It seemed that life as a SHIELD agent didn’t give so much as a day of down-time in between dramatic events. One moment the team was cleaning up the aftermath of the battle against the Inhumans of Afterlife, or overseeing Bobbi’s recovery after her torture at the hands of Grant Ward and Kara Palamas, and the next they were in an emergency meeting, discussing what should be done about a member of their own team- one of their friends.

“She isn’t- isn’t a danger,” Fitz was speaking, his voice firm as he looked around at the faces of the others in the room, as if he was daring someone to try to disagree with him. “She doesn’t need to be locked up.”

“No one’s suggesting that.” Mack replied, “But if she can’t control her powers, then we need to take precautions. Maybe she wouldn’t try to hurt us, but who knows what she could do by accident?”

To the side of the room, Daisy scoffed. “ _ Right _ . Because those precautions worked  _ so well _ last time. Let me go in to talk to her. I know what she’s going through- I can help. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing!”

“You’re assuming that she can learn how to control them,” Mack countered. “Not every Inhuman is going to be like you. Maybe we need to revise our strategies of dealing with them, but you can’t assume that she’ll see this as a good thing.”

Daisy opened her mouth to argue against Mack further, but before she could get a word out, she was interrupted by Coulson.

“Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do first.” All eyes in the room turned to look at their Director. “Dr Garner will give Simmons a psychological assessment to see how terrigenesis has impacted on her mentally. We’ll take his lead for what we do next. Everyone else is to continue with their regular activities until further notice. Understood?”

There was a chorus of ‘Yes, sir’s, and Mack turned and left the room. Daisy, Fitz and May remained. Coulson looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

Fitz stepped forwards, beginning his piece. “I still don’t like her being- being kept in that cell like she’s some- some criminal. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“I know.” Coulson smiled sadly. “But she requested it. It’s the most easily accessible way to neutralise her powers… for the time being. But you’re right. It isn’t ideal. Simmons is one thing, but we can’t use that cell if we encounter more Inhumans in the future- we need somewhere that can neutralise abilities without the negative connotations of a cell. Can you do that?”

Fitz nodded quickly. “Yes, sir. I just- I- I want to speak to- to see Simmons first. Make sure she’s al- okay. I’ll tell her about Dr Garner.”

Coulson nodded his approval, and Fitz awkwardly backed out of the room. Coulson leaned against the table behind him, not bothering giving Daisy permission to speak- he knew that she’d tell him what was on her mind with or without it.

As expected, Daisy began to talk almost as soon as Fitz left. “Let me talk to her about the Secret Warriors.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Yes! Look, I get what she’s going through. She’ll feel alienated and scared. I want to give her hope. I want to show her that this doesn’t mean she’ll have to leave SHIELD, or that she won’t have a team anymore. I want her to know that this is going to give her more, not take away from what she has.”

In the face of Daisy’s conviction, it was difficult to say no, but Coulson was still hesitant. Daisy had spent her life searching for a place of belonging- discovering that she was Inhuman gave her that. Simmons case, however, was different. Coulson had seen how terrifying the woman found change. He was concerned that presenting her with even more all at once would hinder, rather than help.

“Wait until Dr Garner has concluded his assessment.” Coulson finally decided. “If she seems well-adjusted, then you can discuss the possibility with her. If not, then we will wait a bit longer. We don’t want to overwhelm her.”

Daisy appeared to be disappointed, but didn’t argue. “Fine, but I’m still going to check up on her later. She needs to see that this doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

Daisy turned and, after glancing over at May, left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

For a few moments the room remained in silence, the only sound being May’s footsteps against the floor as she walked over to Coulson.

“You’ve been quiet.” Coulson commented. “Quieter than usual.”

May looked over at him cooly for a few seconds before speaking. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Oh, doubtless.” Coulson responded, turning on the feed of Simmons cell on the screen in front of them. She was curled up in the corner, looking over at Fitz who was animatedly speaking about something, trying to lift her spirits. “But she’s strong.”

May shook her head. “She is, but she doesn’t have the tools that she needs to manage this.”

Coulson looked over quizzically. “Tools?”

“You heard Fitz’s report of her powers. Emotional control, in someone who runs away from their emotions? That isn’t going to end well.”

Coulson winced. “Do you have any ideas of how to help with that?”

May watched FitzSimmons interact on the screen in front of them. “I may have some ideas.”

.

Hours earlier, when Fitz had finally managed to return Simmons to the Playground, Simmons had insisted that she be locked in Vault D. It was the only place for her, she reasoned. The Vault’s screen could keep her powers under control- they could prevent her from accidentally hurting anyone.

While Fitz had insisted over and over again that she wasn’t causing any harm, she wasn’t a fool. She could see the way that he winced when he came close to her.

It was funny, almost. For as long as she could remember, Simmons had found it difficult to express her emotions. She had always hated making others aware of her sadness and anxieties, fearing becoming a burden on them. Now, she had no control over the matter- no matter what she did, when she was around people her emotions spilled out of her like a broken tap.

And it wasn’t just that, either. She could feel others emotions, too. She had felt Fitz’s panic, Daisy’s curiosity, May’s calm. As far as Simmons was concerned, this was just as bad as forcing her own emotions on others- it was overstepping boundaries. It was being invasive. No one wanted others to know what they were feeling. Emotions were personal for a reason, she had no right to them.

Yet there was nothing that she could do about it. Nothing happened when she tried to stop it. This was why Vault D had become necessary.

That didn’t mean that she enjoyed being here, however.

This place held bad memories. Hours every day spent watching the feed, watching  _ him _ , drowning in fear of a man that couldn’t hurt anyone even if he wanted to, thanks to the barrier keeping him separated from the rest of the world.

Though, there was nothing stopping him from hurting anyone anymore. There had been nothing to stop him from hurting Bobbi- Bobbi, who Simmons knew that she should be with now. She should be there to over-see her surgeries, to make sure that there were no complications, to make sure that she was safe.

But she couldn’t be there, because her presence would just cause further harm.

“What are you thinking?” Andrew’s voice spoke up, abruptly pulling Simmons back to reality.

Simmons sighed. “That this assessment is unnecessary. I am perfectly fine.”

“You’ve gone through an extreme change. There will be after-effects.”

“I am well aware. There is a reason that I requested to be kept here.”

“Would you like to tell me more about that?”

“What’s there to tell?” Simmons asked dismissively, “This cell has the unique ability to block out my enhancement.”

“True, but asking to be put in a prison has certain implications. Do you think that you deserve to be in here?”

“It’s not about deserving it. It’s what is necessary.”

“So you want to be in here?”

“Of course not.”

“Then where do you want to be?”

Simmons took a few moments to reply, before sighing. “I want to be out of here. I want to check on Bobbi and help her to prepare for rehab. I want to finish cataloging the artefacts we recovered from Afterlife. I want to speak to Fitz.”

“So you want your life to return to normal?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. We can get back to that. Let’s talk about your gift for a moment. Can you tell me more about that?”

Simmons scoffed. “It’s hardly a gift.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s awful.”

“Can you describe it to me?”

Simmons frowned, taking a little while to pick her words. “It’s like every cell in my body is on edge- reaching out for something. Even while I’m in here, alone, I feel like there’s something I need to find, but when I’m with others it’s worse. It’s as if I can’t tell the difference between them and me, and it’s all just- it’s too much.”

“That sounds overwhelming.”

“It is. Very. I couldn’t even sit in a restaurant with Fitz for more than a couple of minutes.”

“You understand that there is a precedent for these gifts-  _ enhancements _ ? Daisy managed to achieve complete control in a short period of time.”

“I don’t want control.”

“What do you want?”

“I want things to go back to normal. I want to be able to go out without feeling as if my head’s on fire. I just want it gone.”

.

Back in Coulson’s office, Andrew gave his report.

“She isn’t managing with this change- and I worry about how she’s managed previous changes while working for SHIELD.”

Coulson sighed. “She’s good at keeping things to herself, but a lot has happened to her over the past year. I should have been more aware of it.”

“You can’t change what you did in the past.” Andrew spoke calmly. “But you can change what you do in the future.”

“Was that a free consultation, Dr Garner?” Coulson asked with a wry smile, before getting back to the point. “What do you recommend?”

“Right now, I think isolating her would be the worst thing to do, but you can’t keep her in that cell. Aside from the connotations of being imprisoned after undergoing such a dramatic transformation, the memory of the last inhabitant there isn’t going to help her recovery.”

“Fitz is already designing a room that will be able to dampen Inhuman abilities. Perhaps you could offer him some advice about the design, from a therapeutic stand-point?”

Andrew nodded. “But I’m warning you, Phil, that my help is on behalf of the vulnerable people that may have to occupy these rooms. I’m not doing this for SHIELD.”

“Understood.” Coulson continued on. “And your opinion on Daisy’s team?”

“It’s not a bad idea, showing Inhumans what they can be, but I can’t recommend Agent Simmons for it at this point. In another few months, maybe, but right now she needs to focus on her recovery. Bringing this team up to her will only put more pressure on her.”

Coulson nodded. “I’ll break the news to Daisy. Thank you for your time, Andrew.”

.

“Yeah, um, and then- then Hunter- he tried to give Bobbi some- uh- some phosphoric acid- he thought it was water. It was pretty funny, actually, because Bobbi- she can- she’s still in bed, but she can still make herself pretty intimidating when she’s angry.” Fitz was speaking, trying to fill the silence and give Simmons something to focus on.

Simmons wasn’t really paying attention to him, though. She appreciated the company, but her mind kept jumping around. One moment she was thinking about how impossible her future seemed right now, and the next her mind was flinging her to the past, to the last time she’d been in this room. She tried to concentrate on Fitz’s voice- tried to use him as an anchor to ground her in the present- but it didn’t really seem to work.

Then she heard the door open, and she lifted her head, looking over to see who was coming to pay her a visit next. She was somewhat surprised when she saw May walking down the stairs- and, judging by Fitz’s expression- so was he.

“Fitz. You’ve been down here long enough. You should get back to your work.” May said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Fitz straightened up and nodded. He looked over at Simmons one last time and smiled. “I’ll- I’ll come back down to see you, uh, to see you a-again before I go to bed.”

Simmons gave him a smile in return, but it dropped from her face the moment he turned his back and left. Pretending that everything was fine was exhausting.

She looked over at May quizzically, waiting for the other woman to speak. She wouldn’t have come here for no reason, after all. That wasn’t the type of woman that May was.

“Your powers,” May began, “You can feel others emotions?”

“Yes.” Simmons confirmed. “And other things. Things they’re touching. Any kind of physical or emotional sensation.”

“What’s that like?”

Simmons frowned. May seemed awfully curious- it wasn’t something that Simmons was used to from her. “Overwhelming. It doesn’t hurt, exactly, but it’s… a lot.”

“Does it feel as if other people’s emotions are yours?”

“Oh. Yes. It does. Um- it was like- I couldn’t tell where they ended and I began. I don’t know if that makes  _ any _ kind of sense…”

May nodded slowly. “Next time, try to find something you can ground yourself using. An emotion that you know is your own. Focus on that emotion and the physical sensations attributed to it.”

Simmons blinked in surprise. This hadn’t been what she had been expecting at all.

“Okay. I’ll- I’ll try that.” She played with the hem of her shirt awkwardly for a moment. “Thank you, May.”

May nodded again and started back up the stairs, pausing at the top to speak over her shoulder. “Get yourself some rest, Simmons.”

When May was gone, Simmons laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to figure out what was going on with Agent May.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go again! going to aim to get a chapter out every weekend, seems realistic!
> 
> originally this chapter was going to be longer, but i think ending it here works better. next chapter is when the drama really starts, so be prepared
> 
> like always kudos/comments make me feel warm & fuzzy on the inside & i hope that you all enjoy!

It had been a couple of days since Simmons had moved from Vault D to the containment room that Fitz had created, and a little over a week since she had undergone terrigenesis. In the time between, she’d mostly been waking, reading, then sleeping- rinse and repeat. Every now and then someone would come down to speak with her- most often Daisy or Fitz- but, especially as time progressed, she was more often than not left to herself.

It wasn’t that the others didn’t want to spend time with her- Simmons understood this. Fitz threw himself into his work on the containment room so she would be able to become more comfortable, and Daisy was busy trying to track down some of the Inhumans that had lived at Afterlife.

If asked, Simmons would have claimed that she preferred being alone, anyway. She hated being a burden on others. She’d much prefer everyone just continue on with their normal lives until she was ready to continue on with hers.

She did have to admit, though, that the containment room was significantly more pleasant than Vault D. The bed was far more comfortable, and there was a large TV embedded into the wall. Furthermore, having visitors became easier with a pod in the room. Communication still had to happen through a wall, but she felt less like an animal being observed in a zoo.

Another big bonus of the containment room was that it wasn’t locked.

As Fitz had put it, she wasn’t a prisoner. She was here because she’d asked to be. She could leave at any time, and they would work with it. Simmons wasn’t sure if every member of the team shared his point of view, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

For the most part, she stayed in the room despite being able to leave. The memory of that first day at the restaurant was fresh in her mind, and now that she knew that not only would she feel the overwhelming sensations of everyone in the building, but they would be able to feel hers too, she was even more hesitant about being around people.

That being said, there was one time where she could safely leave the containment room- night-time.

At around midnight, most people in the base were asleep. There would always be someone awake, either unable to sleep or watching the security feeds, but Simmons quickly discovered that with her powers she was able to sense when others were around before she saw them, so that way she could avoid detection from any night-time wanderers. As for security, well, no one had said that she wasn’t to leave the containment room. She wasn’t doing anything that would necessitate their interference.

The Playground was strange at night. Simmons was used to see it bustling with activity, with agents making their way through every corridor, or the sounds of her friend’s voices being heard coming from the rec room. Now it was dead silent, with the only noises coming from the pipes.

She reminded herself that, for now, this was preferred, and continued on her way.

Reaching her destination, the lab, she felt even stranger. Being in the lab without Fitz just felt wrong, but she pushed that thought out of her mind as she switched the lab back on. Fitz had been working so hard this past week- he deserved his rest.

Everything in the lab was just as she remembered it being. Not even a post-it note was out of place. She smiled fondly as she looked over her desk, knowing who was responsible for its pristine condition. Then she shook her head lightly and told herself to focus. She had work to do.

Simmons worked alone in the lab for hours, not pausing for a moment. Eventually, at around 5am when she sensed May making her way to the training room, she stopped her work. She cleared everything away as best as she could and left the lab, taking the long way back to the containment room so as to avoid May.

When she returned to the containment room she curled up in bed, managing a few hours of sleep before Fitz came to deliver her breakfast through the slot in the door.

During the day, she socialised with Fitz and Daisy, watched documentaries on the overly large TV, and read over her notes on her work. When she was sure that everyone who may disagree with what she was doing was asleep, she snuck out of her room once more and returned to the lab.

.

It was five days later when, after delivering her breakfast at the exact same time that he had over the previous days, Fitz hesitated.

Usually, he’d ask how she had been, and would tell her of anything that she had missed, before they would begin discussing the documentaries that she had watched the previous day. It was a routine that he hadn’t diverged from once since she’d been moved to the containment room. Yet, today, it seemed that things would be different.

“So, um…” Fitz began, fiddling with his hands, “I’ve- uh- I noticed some, uh, some things in the lab, they’re a bit- they’re sort of- they’re- they’re out of order.”

Simmons tried to keep a neutral expression as she ate a slice of toast. “Hm?”

“And so I looked over the security footage, and, um, I saw- uh- why have you been- been going to the lab at night?”

Busted. Simmons knew there was no way she could talk herself out of that one. Of course he had noticed her work- if he had been making sure to keep her workspace exactly as she had left it, then of course he would notice the slightest thing out of place. The only options left were whether to lie or tell the truth.

But that wasn’t really a choice. Simmons had never been a particularly confident liar, even though she had greatly improved at it recently. That wasn’t why she was choosing to be honest, though. The simple truth of it was that she really wanted Fitz’s help with this.

“It’s difficult to be in the lab when everyone else is there. Night-time seemed the obvious alternative.” She started, beating around what he was really asking her.

“I- uh- that- I get that. What I mean is, what have you been working on? I couldn’t work it out.”

Simmons pushed her food around the plate idly as she tried to think of a way to phrase this that wouldn’t immediately result in him trying to convince her to stop. “...I think I can work out how to stop my enhancement.”

“What, like a- like a cure?”

Simmons pulled a face. “Not… exactly. A cure implies that I would be treating the cause. Perhaps in a few years I could create something like that, but right now with my limited resources and knowledge, that would be impossible. I am simply attempting to treat my symptoms.”

Fitz didn’t respond at first, so Simmons looked up at him. He was watching her with a small frown. With a sigh, Simmons set her plate aside and collected her previously hidden notes, approaching the glass separating them and holding the notes up.

She began to explain that tests she had run found that her cerebral cortex- amongst other areas- was over-active. She explained that she was simply trying to find a combination of chemicals that could reverse the symptoms of terrigenesis in her- bring her back to her normal way of functioning. She had hoped that seeing the science of it would calm any worries that Fitz may have, but that tight little frown didn’t leave his face. If anything, it grew.

When she was done she looked at him expectantly. He hesitated for a few moments further, before running his hand through his hair. “Y-You know you’re- you’re not- not broken. Right?”

Simmons set her notes down and sent him a gentle smile. “Of course, Fitz. I’m not saying that I am. This is just very inconvenient. Don’t you think it would be better for everyone if I could simply neutralise it?”

“I don’t think Daisy would agree.”

Simmons looked away. “Daisy is… different. Her ability- it’s shown her a whole new world. Connections that she did not have before, even if it ended… unpleasantly. It gave her pieces of herself that she felt were missing, didn’t it? I don’t have that. No part of me was missing. I was finally reaching a place where I could be happy with myself again, and then this happened, and-” she cut herself off exhaled. “...If I have the opportunity to return things to normal, then I will take it.”

Fitz still didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t think this is- is a good idea.”

“Why? I am taking every necessary precaution. I am being careful.”

“I- I know, I’m just- I’m worried. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with how you are now. You’re different, but that’s- that’s okay. You could learn how to control it, and-”

“I don’t want to control it!” Simmons tone was harsher than she’d intended, and she took a moment to take a breath and calm herself. “I don’t know how to describe what it’s like, Fitz, but it’s awful. I just want to be able to be around people again. I just want things to go back.”

To her absolute horror, Simmons realised that she was beginning to tear up, so she turned and began to collect her breakfast for him so he didn’t see.

“...I still don’t- I don’t- I don’t like this. But…” Fitz sighed. “Let me help? You could- um- you could show me- show me your work. Run things through me. You- you know so much more about BioChem than I ever could, but I’d like- like to make sure you’re really being- being safe.”

Simmons carefully wiped at her eyes and, when she was sure that they were as dry as could be expected, turned back around and placed the plate in the slot of the door. She looked up at Fitz and gave a cheery smile. “Thank you.”

Fitz took the plate and returned her smile with a cautious one of his own. “Just- just don’t do anything without talking to me first?”

“Of course.” Simmons gave a quick nod. “And don’t tell anyone what we’re doing? At least not until I’m sure that I have a drug that works.”

Fitz set the plate down beside him and leaned against the wall. “So… how have- how did you sleep?”

For the next few hours they returned to their typical routine, the pair of them chatting with each other about the events of the previous day. Neither of them brought up their failed date, or where to move on from there. It was on both of their minds, but there was a time and a place for those things, and both agreed that here and now wasn’t it.

After some time, the door to the pod opened, and Daisy stuck her head in. She looked at them both with a smile and stepped inside.

“Thought I’d find you here.” She spoke to Fitz with a knowing smile, before looking over at Simmons. “I ordered some of those books you asked for. Should be here in a few days.”

Simmons gave an appreciative nod. She’d asked Daisy to order in some research journals that would help her with creating her symptom-reliever. She had asked Daisy for them instead of Fitz out of the fear that he would be able to work out what she was doing after seeing what she was after- though, now, that didn’t seem to be a problem.

“Sorry, I’m not really here for a chat right now.” Daisy continued. “We got a hit about a potential Inhuman. Coulson wants you on the team, Fitz.”

Fitz blinked in surprise. “Wha- me? I can’t- I need to-”

“Please don’t refuse to go on my account.” Simmons cut in. “If Coulson wants you to be there, then there must be a reason.”

Fitz looked over at her with that annoying little frown back on his face, but relented. “...Okay. I’ll- um- I’ll come see you as- as soon as I get back.”

Simmons stepped back from the door, heading back over to her bed and waving her friends away. “Yes, yes. Stay safe.”

Daisy waved back at Simmons before leaving the room. Fitz hesitated for a moment longer, opening his mouth as if he was about to say something then closing it again as he thought better of it, before he followed Daisy out.

Simmons lay back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t help but feel upset that she couldn’t go with them, but there was no use thinking of these things. She wouldn’t be any help to anyone in her current state. She would just have to work harder on alleviating her symptoms. Then everything could go back to the way that it should be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here the drama starts, and it's going to get worse from here! we're also half-way into this now, wowie
> 
> as always kudos/comments make me want to get up in the morning, and i hope that you enjoy!

At some point after the team had left, Simmons must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew her eyes were snapping open as the door to the visitation pod opened.

She sat up quickly and blinked the last traces of sleep from her eyes, looking over eagerly, expecting to see the others safely back. As it turned out, the person standing at the other side of the glass looking over at her with a smile definitely hadn’t been sent out on the mission - though Simmons couldn’t find it in herself to feel disappointed at the unexpected face.

Within a few moments, Simmons was out of bed and across the containment room, standing in front of the glass and offering her visitor a warm smile.

“What are you doing here?” Simmons asked, her tone a touch firm. “You shouldn’t even be out of bed.”

Bobbi laughed, wincing as the movement caused her pain. She took a moment to catch her breath before responding. “I was, for a long time. Then everyone left and I was given the perfect opportunity to sneak out.”

Simmons shook her head. “You really shouldn’t be doing that! Your body needs time to rest.”

Bobbi waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. That’s all anyone’s been saying to me, but it’s been weeks. If I have to stay in that little room any longer, I’m going to kill someone - probably Hunter. Besides, I’ve been wanting to check on you since I heard. How have you been holding up?”

“Oh, you know. I’ve been fine.” Simmons answered too quickly.

Bobbi frowned, not believing Simmons for a moment, but didn’t want to press. Now, more than ever, she understood wanting to feign normalcy. “If you want to talk about any of it, I have a free ear and not much else to do.”

“I appreciate it, but it feels as if all I’ve been doing lately is talking about it. Did they make you speak to Dr Garner?”

Bobbi sent her a mischievous smile. “Perks of being physically injured. Every time he dropped by I exaggerated my condition.”

Simmons smiled back. “You know, that could be why you had to  _ sneak out _ .”

“It could be.” Bobbi agreed.

Simmons glanced around her room. “Well, I would invite you in, but I am sure that you don’t need me to explain to you why that would be a bad idea.” She paused. “Did anyone tell you anything about this mission?”

“Not much. Something about a potential Inhuman, but that was about all I heard. They wanted Hunter on the op.”

“Fitz and Daisy, too.” Simmons leaned against the wall. “It’s frightfully boring without them around.”

“I was enjoying the peace and quiet without Hunter hovering, but now I’m starting to miss it.” Bobbi admitted. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“My lips are sealed.” Simmons smiled. “I  _ am _ happy to see you again, Bobbi. I was so worried… I wanted to visit, but I thought-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Bobbi quickly cut in. “I understand. You’ve had a lot going on.”

“It’s not really that. Or, well, it is, but- I just didn’t want to make things worse for you. What you went through was terrible, and I didn’t want to contribute to that.”

“Jemma, there’s nothing you could’ve done that would’ve made this worse.”

Simmons found that hard to believe, but appreciated the sentiment. For a few moments the two women stood in companionable silence, before Bobbi broke it.

“So… I don’t have much, but I brought a notepad. How about a game of hangman?”

Simmons laughed. “That sounds like fun.”

.

A while had passed, and despite the glass separating them, Simmons felt more normal than she had since this whole mess started. She was realising that she had been missing Bobbi a lot.

Simmons won the last round of hangman with ‘tungsten’, and the pair were about to begin their next round, before Bobbi paused, hearing heavy footsteps in the corridor outside. 

Simmons looked over at her with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure.” Bobbi set her pad of paper down and headed towards the door to check on the noise.

Outside was chaos, and Simmons could just about get a glimpse of moving bodies from the opened door. Bobbi pulled an agent aside and spoke with them in a low voice, letting them go after a few moments and turning back to Simmons with a concerned expression.

“Something happened on the op.”

Simmons felt her blood run cold and she stepped closer to the glass. “What? What happened? Is everyone okay?”

“I don’t know.” Bobbi kept her tone calm, but her eyes betrayed her nerves. “I’m going to check on everyone.”

“Tell me when you find out what’s happened!” Simmons called after her as her friend left.

With Bobbi gone, the containment room felt simultaneously bigger and smaller than it had before. Simmons walked over to her bed and perched on the edge of it, but as nervous energy began to build up in her she found that she couldn’t stay put. She began pacing up and down the length of the room, but even that wasn’t really enough.

Her chest felt tight, and her mind was racing. She couldn’t stop thinking about how strange it was that Fitz and Daisy hadn’t immediately come to visit her.

She didn’t know how long she spent pacing, her mind running through every terrible possibility, before the door opened again.

She looked up, expecting Bobbi and hoping for Fitz or Daisy, but saw none of them. Instead, she saw Mack with a stony expression.

“Mack. What’s happening?” She asked, walking over to the glass.

“I’m sorry.” Were the first words that Mack said. Simmons felt the sick feeling in her stomach grow. “The mission was a hoax to draw us out. We all got out fine, mostly…”

“Mostly?”

Mack looked pained. “Fitz was shot on the way out. It was touch-and-go for a while, but he’s stable now, in the infirmary.”

Simmons felt rather like the world was crashing down.

“I see.” Simmons felt as if her body was operating without her, remaining mostly emotionless despite the emotions she felt like she was drowning in on the inside. “Thank you for telling me.”

Mack frowned. “Are you alright?”

“Of course.” Simmons lied, a reassuring smile on her face. “You said he’s stable now and, besides, there’s not much that I could do to help him now, is there? There’s no point in worrying about things that I can’t control. I’ll speak to him about it when he’s able to come and visit me.”

Mack still didn’t seem convinced. “You can visit him, if you want.”

Simmons mask slipped for a moment, but she quickly put it back in place. “I think we both know that isn’t a very good idea, Mack.”

Mack sighed. “I’m not going to pretend that I understand your powers, but I know that Fitz means a lot to you. The rest of us can cope with some weird feelings for a while.”

“It’s fine. I would only get in the way.” Simmons insisted. “But you should be with him. He means a lot to you, too. He should have you there.”

Mack hesitated, but eventually gave in. “Take care of yourself, Simmons.”

Simmons nodded, and watched him leave. She walked back over and sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly ahead of her.

Fitz had been shot. Fitz was stable, now, but he had been shot. Fitz was in a lot of pain, and was likely frightened. And she’d been here. She’d been unable to do anything. She hadn’t even known about it until it was already over. She was pathetic. Powerless. And all because of this ridiculous ability.

Simmons felt her fear and distress gradually morph into anger. She took a breath and wiped at her cheeks, brushing the few tears that had leaked out of her eyes away. Then she stood up, and left the containment room.

She used her ability to navigate through the base without running into everyone, eventually making it to the lab. It was late enough that the lab techs had all left for the night, leaving her with free reign.

She worked quickly, not tidying up after herself. She followed her latest theories, concocting what would, in theory, neutralised her powers. When she had the compound completed she picked it up and, without so much as a moment’s hesitation, downed it.

The taste was unpleasant, but that was unimportant. She began to make her way back to the containment room to wait for the effects of the drug to become apparent.

There was no way to test the effects of the drug when back in the containment room, but Simmons knew that it would take some time to work. For one more night, she would ensure that no one had to feel the terrible effects of her power. She curled up in her bed, promising herself that she would be able to visit Fitz in the morning.

.

When Simmons awoke, her head was pounding and her mouth was dry. She felt something akin to a hangover, but that wasn’t quite accurate. Something else that was strange was how… not  _ calm _ she felt, something else. Something similar. The anxiety that had been bubbling just under her skin ever since she had nearly drowned at the bottom of the ocean seemed to be gone. She couldn’t feel it anymore - in fact, she couldn’t really feel much of anything.

Before she was given much time to think that through further, she heard a gentle knock on the glass and looked up to see Daisy standing there.

Daisy looked worse for wear, and Simmons wondered if she’d slept at all last night.

“Here with your breakfast order.” Daisy spoke with a tired smile.

Simmons stood and began to walk over to the visitation pod to collect it, but paused half-way through the room.

“Why don’t you come in and put it on the table for me?”

Daisy blinked in surprise. “You want me to come in?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Daisy’s smile became more genuine. “It would be my pleasure.”

Daisy opened the door and stepped into the containment room, and Simmons managed her own smile when she saw that her cure was a success.

She could feel nothing coming from Daisy. Not a single physical sensation, not a single emotion. She was just as closed off and separate as she had always been - as she was always  _ meant _ to be.

Daisy placed the tray on the table and looked over at Simmons. “Woah. You’ve got this much control already? I can’t feel anything coming off you.”

Simmons shrugged modestly. “I suppose I just needed the right push.”

Daisy grimaced. “Then I guess at least something good came out of all this mess. I’ll hang around until you’ve eaten, and then we can visit him together?”

Simmons nodded. “I would like that very much.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! this one is a little later, sorry! i had fun writing this though!
> 
> as a warning, this chapter contains description of catatonia, so if that'll be an issue for you, please proceed with caution!
> 
> as always if you leave kudos/comments i will give you my firstborn

As it turned out, Fitz was fine, for the most part. By the time that Daisy and Simmons made it to medical he was already asleep, but as Simmons darted around and checked on his condition she was relieved to see that he was stable. He was sure to make a full and speedy recovery, and she decided that when he was better she would give him a proper talking to about making her worry.

For the time being, Simmons pulled up a chair beside his bed and sat vigil, wanting to be there the second he woke up.

Daisy watched with a strangely distressed expression, and stayed for a while, before eventually heading off to sleep with promises to check back in on the pair when she woke next.

For a few hours, Simmons stayed beside Fitz, watching over him quietly. Though he would be fine, she still felt guilty for not being there when he’d been hurt - though, oddly, she noticed that she didn’t feel the twist in her stomach that usually accompanied feelings of guilt. Before she could think on that more, Fitz face twitched and he squinted his eyes open.

“Fitz!” Simmons leaned closer to him.

Fitz looked over at her blankly for a moment. “...Simmons.” Then he started looking around the room, confusion clear on his face. “Where- uh- wh- wha- what happened?”

“You got yourself shot.” Simmons informed him. Despite her intense worry over him, her tone was void of any emotion. “You’ll be fine, but you really need to be more careful on missions in the future.”

Fitz turned his gaze back to her. “Wh- what are you doing- doing- doing here?”

“Checking on you, of course.” She gave a performative smile.

“No, I me- mean- you shouldn’t- I thought- there’s no-” He brought his free hand up and gestured vaguely between them. “- _ stuff _ .”

Simmons raised an eyebrow. “How descriptive.”

“Y- You can’t be- be mean to me, I just go- got- I was shot.”

Simmons looked around to make sure that there was no one else around, then leaned in conspiratorially. “I perfected my medicine.”

Fitz frowned as the gears in his head turned, then his eyes widened when he realised what she meant. “Je- Jemma, that’s- you said- you said you’d- you’d talk to m- me.”

“Well, you weren’t exactly available.”

“You have no idea what side effects there could be!”

“Ugh, Fitz, it’s  _ fine _ .” Simmons spoke firmly. “It works. I feel fine. I know what I’m doing.”

“...I’m not sure if you do.”

Simmons narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

For a moment, it seemed that Fitz was going to backtrack, but then he pulled himself up on the bed, wincing as the movement hurt his injury, and looked Simmons in the eyes. “You’re trying to run away from- from change. Again.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Y-You’re right, I- I- I don’t. Neither of us do. I’m just worried about you.”

“Worry about yourself.” Simmons gave a little smile. “You just got shot. You need to focus on your own recovery. I’m fine.”

Fitz didn’t seem convinced, but he settled down again regardless, deciding to let the topic drop, for now.

.

A few weeks passed, and things seemed to be returning to normal. Fitz was released from medical, and he returned to the lab alongside Simmons. Simmons, herself, was happy to be able to interact with her friends again without fearing hurting them or herself - so what if she had to take her mystery concoction twice a day? It was working, and she hadn’t noticed any adverse side effects. Things could return to how they had been.

Even Bobbi had been discharged from medical by now - though she hadn’t been cleared for field missions yet, so spent most of her time working in the lab alongside FitzSimmons.

“No Fitz today?” Bobbi asked, leaning against a counter.

“He has a health check.” Simmons explained, “It feels strange to not be doing it myself, in all honesty.”

“Oh? Why aren’t you?”

Simmons pulled a face. “I think I may be coming down with something. I’ve been feeling rather strange all day, it’s rather difficult to focus. I wouldn’t want to miss something.”

Bobbi crossed the room to Simmons, reaching out and checking her temperature with the back of her hand. “You don’t have a fever.”

“I know.” Simmons said, “I checked. It’s probably nothing. I’m sure I’ll be fine before long.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to go and rest? I can manage things here until Fitz gets back.”

Simmons shook her head. “I’m really fine. I can’t stand the thought of lazing around and doing nothing.”

“If you’re sure.” Bobbi regarded her with a slight frown, before relaxing her face and stepping back to give Simmons more room. “Just tell me if you change your fine.”

Simmons nodded, turning back to what she had been working on the previous day, focusing solely on her work. And then she stopped.

Bobbi glanced over, “Simmons?”

Simmons looked over to respond - except she didn’t. She stayed staring at her work blankly, despite her best efforts. It was as if someone had taken out a pair of scissors and cut the connection between her mind and her body - she was aware of Bobbi walking across the room towards her, aware of the lab techs starting to whisper, aware of everything that was happening, but for some reason she felt unable to do anything about it.

Bobbi reached out and placed a gentle hand on Simmons shoulder. “Can you hear me?”

_ Yes _ . Simmons wanted to say. But her mouth wouldn’t move, and the words wouldn’t come out.

“Blink twice if you can hear me.” Bobbi tried a different angle.

Simmons tried to make herself blink, but nothing she did had any effect on her body. It was like she’d been locked out, and she could feel waves of anxiety and fear rise up inside her, but despite feeling on the verge of a panic attack, no tears came to her eyes, and no panicked breaths came from her lungs.

“I’m going to need medical, now.” Bobbi was talking to someone else, but Simmons couldn’t turn to see who. She silently begged them to speak so that she could have a fuller understanding of what was happening, but her prayer wasn’t answered.

She heard movement around her as Bobbi cleared the lab techs out, and sent a silent thank you to her friend. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she didn’t want people to witness this. A few more minutes past, and two heavy pairs of footsteps hit the floor, coming towards her.

“I don’t know what’s happening.” Bobbi began to speak to them. Simmons could tell that her back was to her, from the way her voice was slightly muted. “She said that she felt strange earlier, then a few minutes ago she stopped reacting to anything.”

“Was there anything strange about her behaviour before this?” Simmons recognised May’s voice.

“She was less animated.” Bobbi replied thoughtfully. “She’s usually all grins, but she didn’t smile once. Not even when she was trying to reassure me that she was fine.”

“I… I think I know what this is…” The third person in the room spoke. Fitz’s voice was quiet, his tone betraying his nerves. He was close to where Simmons was standing and, unlike Bobbi and May, was facing her.

“Catatonia, I assumed.” Bobbi turned to face Fitz and Simmons.

“We- well, y- yeah, that’s- yeah. But, I mean, I know what- I think I- I know what caused it.”

_ No, no _ . Simmons wished that she could make herself speak, to tell Fitz to stop. She didn’t want anyone else to know what she had done.

“What?” May asked, taking a step closer to the scientists.

“...She didn’t- didn’t learn how to con- control her powers. She, uh, she took- she made- a- um- a cure.”

“ _ What _ ?” Bobbi asked, then addressed Simmons herself. “Jemma… that’s dangerous.”

Something that Simmons couldn’t see passed between the other three in the room, and Fitz quickly began to explain, “E-Even though she’s not, um, not mo-moving, she can still- uh, catatonia is- she can still hear and see and- she just can’t- can’t move.”

“It’s safe to move her?” May checked, then supposedly after a pair of nods she continued. “We should set her up in the containment room.”

“Wh- wh- wha- why?”

“This… medicine she’s been taking. We don’t understand how it works, or how often she’s been taking it. If her powers come back, she’ll be suddenly overwhelmed - worse if they come back while she’s in this state and she can’t ask for help.”

Fitz let out a breath, and Bobbi spoke out. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get a wheelchair.”

Simmons heard the sound of Bobbi’s footsteps leaving the lab, and for a few moments there was silence. Then Fitz approached her, walking around so that she could see him.

“Don’t worry, Jemma.” Fitz said, looking at her with a clearly forced smile. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

She appreciated his attempt at comfort, but nothing was alright, really. She’d been so happy when she thought things were getting back to normal, but it seemed that wasn’t possible anymore.

She heard Bobbi come back into the room with the wheelchair, and together Fitz, Bobbi and May moved her so that she was sitting down, before starting off towards the containment room.

On the way there, Simmons could see agents stopping to stare at her, and it made her want to wither up and disappear.

Finally back in the containment room she was moved again, this time to the bed. She was grateful to be put somewhere more comfortable than a low quality wheelchair ( and she made a mental note to find money in the budget for an upgrade, there ), but more grateful to be in a position where she could see everything that was happening in the room.

“You two should go.” May said, turning to Bobbi and Fitz.

Fitz looked shocked, and quickly began speaking. “What? No! I’m not- not- I’m not leaving her now! Look at her, she’s hurt! I’ve got to be here to- to-”

“To what?” May asked, her tone calm but firm. “How do you plan to help her? If her powers return, do you think your panic is going to help at all?”

“Why don’t we look at the drug she was taking?” Bobbi suggested, placing a gentle hand on Fitz’s shoulder. “If we can see what it’s made up of, we can work out any other side effects she may experience. Right now, we don’t even know if she’s going to go through withdrawal.”

Fitz looked between May and Bobbi, then finally over at Simmons. He brought his hand up and ran it through his hair, and even without her powers Simmons thought that she could feel the anxiety coming off of him. Eventually, he sighed. “...Fine.” He kept looking at Simmons. “But I’m coming back to check on you later.”

Bobbi and Fitz left the containment room, leaving Simmons and May alone.

For a while, silence passed between them. Simmons assumed that it would continue on like that until Bobbi and Fitz returned, but to her surprise, May spoke.

“You can hear me. So I’m going to take the opportunity to speak to you.”

“You can’t carry on like this. You can’t run away from everything that makes you uncomfortable. I know you don’t like having powers. I know you haven’t been happy for a long time. But when things change, you can’t keep fighting to go back to how things used to be. You have to accept your new reality.”

Simmons wished that she could speak. She wished that she could tell May that she was wrong - that maybe other people had to accept things, but  _ she didn’t _ . Simmons was a genius scientist. If anyone could undo damage and return things to how they had been, then she could. Nothing had to change.

“I know you don’t agree with me.” May continued, as if she’d read Simmons thoughts, “But I want you to try it. With me. When your powers come back, don’t fight them. Let me help you.”

Simmons couldn’t see how May would be able to help - May wasn’t even an Inhuman. What did she know about this?

“If my methods don’t work, then fine. Go back to your self-destructive theories. I won’t stop you.”

But… if she humoured May, then that would be one less person trying to stop her from fixing everything. With an internal sigh, Simmons decided to play along.

.

A few hours passed, with May refusing to speak further, and Simmons unable to. After the first half hour, May put a documentary on the TV - it was one that Simmons had already seen, but she appreciated the thought nonetheless. It was something to concentrate on aside from the way that her body refused to obey her.

Gradually, she began to feel more like a person again. If she really tried, she could control her own breathing, and blink her own eyes. It wasn’t much, but it was progress.

Not long after, May looked over at her with as surprised of an expression as May could give. “Welcome back.”

Simmons frowned, trying to work through the sludge in her mind to get her body to cooperate. “How’d you know?”

“You’re frightened.” May said, and Simmons realised what she meant with horror. Her powers were back, and she was projecting her feelings onto May. Again.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise.”

Simmons looked over and blinked in surprise.

“You feel guilty for things that aren’t your fault. You should apologise for scaring Fitz and Bobbi, but never apologise for your feelings.”

Simmons looked away again. “This was a mess.”

“It was.” May agreed. “Are you going to let me help you?”

“I suppose. I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

May’s eyes narrowed. “This will only work if you take it seriously, and chose to listen.”

Simmons didn’t respond to that, instead focussing on stretching her fingers. She didn’t think she’d take being able to move for granted again any time soon. “My powers aren’t completely back yet. I can’t feel anything from you.”

“Are you sure?”

Simmons frowned, looking up at May again and concentrating. To her surprise, she found that there  _ was _ something coming from May. She hadn’t been alone with May like this since she underwent terrigenesis, so she hadn’t immediately recognised the feelings coming from May.

Simmons was used to the feelings from others being loud, overwhelming, and impossible to ignore. But May’s were quiet, and didn’t demand her attention. If she had to find a way to describe them, it would be  _ calm _ .

“What…?”

“I can teach you.” May said, then turned and started to leave the room. “But, for now, you should rest. I’ll see you tomorrow, Simmons.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that i didnt update last week! i had a pretty hectic time & just didnt have the energy to write much! im going to try to update twice this weekend to make up for it, but no promises!
> 
> i had fun writing this chapter tbh. next chapter has some more fun bits that ive been looking forwards to, including a fitzsimmons date, so make sure you tune in for that ;)
> 
> as always, if you leave comments/kudos i will go to war for you! i hope that you enjoy!

The cold reality of it was that once things have changed, they can never go back to how they used to be.

Deep down, Simmons knows this. She’s well aware of how drastically one’s life can change in a moment - both for the better and the worst. Yet whenever she’s faced with it, she reacts in the same way. Every single time, without fail, she tries to cling onto what she had before.

Adjusting to change is never something that she’s found easy. Everyone knows this - and Fitz knows it more than most. Yet he can’t help but feel a certain way about all of this. Anger, and betrayal, but deeper than that, fear. He hated to think of her being in pain, physically unable to express any of it - he hated that he hadn’t done something sooner, staged an intervention to prevent this from ever happening.

He rubbed his hands down his face, before pulling them back and staring at how his left hand shook. He curled it into a fist to try and make it stop, but that didn’t really work. Now he just had a shaking fist.

“You doing okay?” Bobbi’s voice spoke up, and he remembered that he wasn’t alone.

“No.” Fitz spoke honestly. “I’m no- not- I’m really  _ not  _ doing okay. You saw that. Sh- she- I should be in there with her-”

Before he was given a chance to complete that thought, a calm voice cut in. “She doesn’t need that right now.”

Fitz and Bobbi both turned, looking over at May who had entered the room. Fitz stepped forwards toward May. “You- you left her a- alone? She needs- needs people- she shouldn’t be alone.”

“She needs to rest.” May responded. “Medical will check in on her, but she doesn’t need any more excitement. Her priority needs to be herself.”

Fitz looked like he was going to argue further, so May continued. “Your priority should be yourself, as well. Give yourself time to process what’s happening before you try to make your move.”

May stood there for a moment, looking Fitz in the eyes, before turning her gaze to Bobbi, who was still stood silently further into the room. When she was satisfied that her words had sunk in, she turned and left.

The room was silent for a few moments after May had left, before Fitz turned and suddenly swiped at the surface behind him, sending a pile of work scattering to the floor. Bobbi took steps closer to him. “Hey, Fitz.”

Fitz groaned, rubbing his hand over his head. “I was stupid to think that things could be fine.”

Bobbi stopped a small distance away from him. “That wasn’t stupid. You wanted things to work out. Who could blame you for that?”

“I could.” Fitz spoke through gritted teeth. “She’s hurt now.”

“Fitz.” Bobbi spoke firmly. “You’re not responsible for what other people do. We’re going to support her with this, but what she chooses to do- that’s not your fault.”

“So it’s her fault?” Fitz’s tone sounded defensive.

“I didn’t say that. It’s not anyone’s fault. Placing blame on yourself, on her, or anyone - it’s not productive.”

Fitz sighed, and brought his hand down from his face. “‘M going to my room. I want to be alone.”

Bobbi watched him leave with a frown on her face, hoping that he’d take on board some of what she had said.

.

Simmons woke with a dull throbbing in her head, and her mouth feeling dry. She reached out blindly for the glass of water that she’d left by her bedside the night before, sitting up to take small sips from it. She felt like she had the worst hangover ever. When she’d taken a few sips of water, she wanted to just curl up under her blanket and continue to hide from the world for the foreseeable future, but the door to her room opened and she was forced to accept that wasn’t going to happen.

She looked up blearily, squinting at May’s figure through the darkness. “Please don’t turn the light on.” She spoke weakly.

May didn’t turn the light on, but her footsteps across the room felt like needles burning into Simmons skull. She groaned weakly, shutting her eyes and bringing her hands up to cover her ears.

When the pain had subsided to a level that Simmons could handle, she opened her eyes again, looking back over at May who was now sat on a chair beside Simmons bed.

“You need to stop blocking your powers from me.” May kept her voice low so the sound wouldn’t hurt Simmons head too extremely.

“I think you’d want me to wait for the room to stop spinning before I consider letting you feel what I’m feeling.”

“No.” May replied simply. “If you decide to wait, then you won’t ever stop. There is always going to be a new excuse to wait longer.”

Simmons pressed her lips together and didn’t reply.

“If this is going to work, you need to humour me, Simmons.”

Silence stretched between them as the pair looked each other in the eyes, each challenging the other to back down. Eventually, Simmons dropped her gaze into her lap and focused on the sensation in her mind - she focused on the wall that she had constructed to separate her sensations from others, and slowly she pulled it down.

The only sign that May was feeling any different was the ever-so-slight way her brows creased for a moment. When the moment had passed, she looked just as impassive as she had before.

“We’ve seen with Daisy what happens when Inhumans try to internalise their powers. This isn’t something that you can hide. You need to learn how to live with it.”

“I don’t, really.” Simmons voice was raspy. “I just need to work out how to- to minimise the side effects of my medication. Everything can go back to how it was.”

“It can’t.” May spoke firmly. “You go through things in life that change you. You can keep trying to cling onto who you were before, but in the end, all you end up doing is hurting yourself, and the people who care about you.”

That struck a chord in Simmons, and she clenched her fists in her lap. “I’m not trying to hurt anyone.”

“I know, but that’s the reality. You don’t choose who cares about you. You can’t stop them from being hurt by your pain unless you take care of yourself.”

“I thought I was taking care of myself. I thought that if everything could go back to before, then I’d be okay.”

“Was it okay before this?”

Simmons looked up. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not an idiot, Simmons. I know that you’ve been struggling since the uprising.” A wave of anxiety rushed out from Simmons to May. “I’m not asking you to talk about it. I don’t need to know what you’re thinking. But  _ you _ need to be aware of yourself.”

Simmons anxiety continued to grow, until suddenly, it stopped. The feeling of anxiety became smaller and smaller, until the only sensation coming from Simmons was her physical pain.

“What was that?” May asked.

“You said I didn’t have to talk about it.”

A touch of amusement coloured May’s usual calm, traveling to Simmons. Simmons couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised at that.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” May conceded. “But forcefully suppressing your emotions is just as bad as suppressing your powers. You need to let yourself feel.”

“I  _ do _ let myself feel!” Simmons argued, indignant. “It’s just - some emotions are simply counter-productive. There is nothing to be gained from anxiety, or fear, or grief. It’s far more productive to move on.”

“You’re not moving on. You’re not  _ allowing yourself _ to move on. You’re keeping those emotions trapped inside of you with no outlet.”

“What other alternative is there? Nothing else  _ works _ .”

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just close your eyes and do as I say.”

Simmons gave May a strange look, but after a moment shut her eyes.

“Take a deep breath, and focus on how it feels. On your chest rising. On the air traveling to your lungs. Then breathe out.”

Simmons followed May’s instructions, only speaking when she was finished. “I don’t see how this is supposed to help.”

“Be patient.”

Simmons felt a wave of irritation, but supposed that this is what she signed up for when she agreed to humour May.

“Now, focus on how your body feels. The pressure of your back against the bed. The warmth of your body heat being trapped by your blanket. The pounding of your head, and the dryness of your mouth. Don’t move, don’t assign any of these sensations a positive or negative label. Just feel them, and try to keep your breathing level.”

As Simmons did as she was told, focussing on different parts of her body, she found that her previous irritation began to become less and less. She wasn’t sure if it was the tasks that May had assigned her, or the overwhelming calm sensation coming from May itself, but she found a sense of relaxation begin to come over her.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Simmons opened her eyes again and looked over at May.

“Next time you feel anxious, try to let it come. Don’t force it away. Do what you just did - take a breath, and focus on the physical sensations.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help.”

“It won’t.” May agreed, to Simmons surprise. “Not the first time, or the second time. But if you dedicate yourself to practicing, in time, it will help.”

May stood and started to cross the room again. Simmons looked over at her in surprise. “You’re leaving already?”

“You should rest.” May told her. “I’ll be back tomorrow. For now, try to reflect on what I’ve told you.”

As the door shut behind May, the feeling of calm that came with her vanished. Simmons sunk into her bed, ready to sleep for another few hours, and found herself thinking that she was looking forwards to seeing May again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow so this chapter got away from me. it's very long. and also in my plan i described it as 'very sweet very fluffy date. yay for happiness!!'. after having written it... that description isn't very accurate fdhfds
> 
> cw for flashbacks & description of drowning
> 
> if you leave comments/kudos i will kill any one of your enemies!
> 
> after this i've only got the epilogue to do! thank ya'll for sticking with me for this long!! i hope that you enjoy this chapter!

Two weeks had passed since Simmons catatonic episode, and every day without fail, May came. As promised, Simmons humoured her, practicing the mindfulness techniques that May taught her - however, as the days went by, Simmons found that the techniques were actually  _ working _ . Not only was she developing more genuine control over her ability, but the low-level anxiety that Simmons had grown used to over the past years was beginning to become less and less noticeable.

Now, Simmons felt that she was ready to let others into the containment room with her, aside from just May.

The thought of being around others was still anxiety-inducing for Simmons, but she took a breath and let the anxiety flow through her without trying to shut it down, as May had taught her. It still wasn’t an automatic reaction, and she had to fight against her instincts, but she could feel the progress that she had been making.

When the door to the containment room opened and Daisy walked in, she felt her friend’s excitement like a wave, and she offered her a gentle smile.

Daisy bounced up to Simmons, her own smile bright on her face. “Good morning!” She greeted happily, “Sleep well?”

“I did.” Simmons replied truthfully. For the first time since even before the HYDRA uprising, she slept through the night without any disturbing dreams.

Daisy pulled a chair out, dragging it across the floor and sitting on it backwards beside Simmons bed. When she was comfortable, she continued. “So. You found out you’re an Inhuman.”

Simmons laughed quietly. “That’s what you’re leading with?”

Daisy’s grin widened. “It’s nice to see you laughing again.”

“Yes, well. It was quite a shock.” Simmons admitted. “I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you, with no idea what was even happening to you.”

Daisy shrugged. “It was just a different kind of difficult, you know? I didn’t know what was happening at first, but then I had Afterlife- until that all turned to shit.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“But, I mean, I was pretty freaked out at first. It’s not just the quakes - it’s like, I can feel my power  _ all of the time _ . Like, I can just - feel every part of me shaking, feel how everything in the world shakes. And I can’t turn it off, ever.”

“I can… understand that. It’s- it’s not the same, but there’s this… it’s sort of… it’s difficult to explain. It’s as if every atom that makes up who I am is reaching out. As if it’s trying to tune into something, and when there’s nothing there, it just keeps straining. It’s easier when there are other people around.”

Daisy nodded. “It gets easier to manage. When I learnt that I didn’t need to be afraid of it, that helped.”

“That’s what May has been trying to teach me.” Simmons sighed. “It is helping, it’s just… still difficult.”

“Have you tried testing them out?” Daisy asked. “I mean, teaching yourself not to be scared of them isn’t all there is to it. Do you know how much you can do?”

Simmons frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you can feel what I’m feeling, right? And I can kind of feel what you’re feeling?” She waited for Simmons to nod, before continuing, “How far does that go? Can you make me  _ just _ feel what you’re feeling? Or could you totally steal what I’m feeling?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Wanna test it out?”

Simmons seemed hesitant. “I’m not sure. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. What if I hurt you?”

“Jemma, you won’t. Look around, this is just about the safest place to be.” Then, she added: “If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. I just thought it could help.”

Simmons twisted her body away from Daisy and shut her eyes. For a moment, Daisy worried that she’d said something wrong, but then she began to feel a pinching in her arm. She looked down at the place where the sensation was coming from, and rubbed her hand over it. There was nothing there physically to be causing the sensation.

She looked over at Simmons, smirking when she saw what was happening. Simmons was gently pinching her own arm, projecting the sensation of it onto Daisy. Daisy held her hand out, very gently quaking her opposite arm - not enough to cause any pain, just enough for the sensation to travel through her body. She felt a smug sense of satisfaction rise when she saw the shiver that ran through Simmons as the sensation transferred over.

For the next few hours, the two Inhumans messed about, exploring their powers with open curiosity. Not for the first time, Simmons found herself feeling grateful that she was surrounded by such warm people.

Eventually, Daisy stood from her seat. “I should probably go make sure the world hasn’t ended while I’ve been here.” She was clearly sad to be bringing her time with Simmons to an end. “But I know someone has a surprise for you later.”

Simmons frowned. “What kind of surprise?”

Daisy grinned and spoke over her shoulder as she left the room. “I really can’t say anything else, but you’re going to love it!”

**Two Weeks Ago**

Fitz returned to his room from the lab, collapsing back heavily on his bed and staring up at the ceiling blankly. Today had been a mess. He couldn’t help but feel that it was his fault.

Because this had all started when he’d gotten shot, hadn’t it? He was an idiot, getting distracted on such a simple mission - it had just been difficult to focus recently. Not only did his brain injury love to screw him over at the worst moments, but with everything that had been happening with Simmons, how was he supposed to focus on the moment?

He’d known that going on that mission was a bad idea. He had wanted to stay with Simmons. He just hadn’t felt that he had the right to say no, not after how useless he’d been over the past months. Everyone was finally starting to see him as part of the team again. He hadn’t wanted to do anything to jeopardise that.

So he’d made a foolish, selfish decision. And Simmons had to see him lying in medical again. And he hadn’t been there to help, he hadn’t been there to offer advice, he hadn’t been there to tell her that she was just as perfect now as she had ever been, that she didn’t have to take that drug, that they could work out something safer together, as they always had.

Except, that wasn’t even true, was it?

Recently, things had started to return to normal between them. They were talking again, working together again. She had even agreed to go on a date with him, even if it had ended terribly. He was trying to forget about the past, about how she had left him, but the memory of it was still there, and it still hurt like a gunshot to his side, or an injury in his brain.

He didn’t want to make her feel guilty for it. It hurt, but he understood. He was different. Difficult. He couldn’t string a sentence together, and he became agitated at the drop of a hat. It was no wonder that she had left. Her coming back - that was more of a surprise.

He groaned, running his hands down his face. This was a mess. A complete, total, absolute-

There was a knock at the door.

With a sigh, Fitz brought his hands down from his face and pulled himself up into a sitting position.

“Come in.” He called out tiredly, internally complaining that he couldn’t get even five minutes of peace around here.

The door opened, revealing Mack stood on the other side. “Hey, Turbo. I heard what happened, and came to see how you’re holding up.”

Fitz signalled for Mack to come into the room properly and the other man did so, letting the door shut behind him.

“I’m fine.” Fitz said, his tone clearly showing that he wasn’t fine at all. “Great. Never been- been- never been better.”

Mack leaned against the wall and looked down at Fitz. “I get it. You don’t have to talk about it. If you want your space, I can give that to you. Just say the words.”

Earlier, Fitz had said that space was what he wanted, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. Being alone just caused his thoughts to get away from him. So he shook his head. “You can stay.”

Mack nodded and moved, making himself comfortable on the chair beside Fitz’s desk, looking over the designs that lay scattered around the surface in silence.

Fitz stayed quiet for a few moments longer, before finally deciding to bite the bullet. “I don’t- I don’t know what I’m supposed to- to- how to help.”

Mack looked over from the designs he’d been admiring. “It’s a complicated situation. I don’t understand the whole- Inhuman side of things, but people… when they go through bad times, sometimes they’ll be willing to do anything to get back to how things used to be.”

“Yeah, I know.” Fitz spoke with an irritated tone. “She’s always- it’s not- this isn’t- isn’t new. I just- I- I don’t even know how to feel.”

“There’s no set way for you to feel. However you feel is just how to feel.”

Fitz shook his head. “That ca- can’t be- it’s not-” He groaned, rubbing his head, “I’m angry. That’s not right. It’s not fair. She’s hurting, I shouldn’t- I- I shouldn’t be an- angry.”

Mack frowned slightly. “Are you sure that’s anger?”

“Yes. She- she could’ve- she didn’t- didn’t know what could’ve happened. For all she knew, she could’ve- she could’ve died.”

“Sounds more like you’re scared to me, Turbo.”

There were a few moments of silence, and Fitz looked down, staring at his shaking hand. That was right, wasn’t it? He had been scared - deathly afraid, really - for her. And he still was.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s not much you can do.” Mack spoke with a sad smile. He sounded like he was speaking from experience. “You can’t fix everything. But talking about it, and offering company? That goes a long way. It might make things easier for you to carry.”

“Yeah… yeah. I think- you’re right.” Fitz looked up at Mack, offering a smile. “I’ll… I’ll talk- talk to her later.”

“Don’t rush into it.” Mack advised, “And, Turbo, don’t forget to look after yourself, too. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Thanks, Mack.”

**Present**

Over the past two weeks, Fitz spent time with Simmons every day, from the pod attached to the containment room. He kept a mental note of her recovery, and found some of his anxieties dying down when he saw that she was making genuine improvement. He didn’t know what May was doing with her, but whatever it was, it seemed to be working.

While he wasn’t with her, Fitz still thought about Simmons - more specifically, he thought about how he was going to speak with her.

There was a lot between them that they should discuss. Fitz knew that ignoring things wasn’t helping him, and he couldn’t imagine that it was helping her. It was about time they cleared the air between them.

But Mack was right. He didn’t want to rush into things. Simmons had to prioritise her own recovery, and Fitz didn’t want to stand in the way of that - and, anyway, he had things that he needed time to process first, too. He didn’t want to go about this the wrong way.

He also didn’t want the conversation to be too stressful. He didn’t want her to feel attacked. He didn’t want to have a fight. He just wanted to talk.

He was at a loss of what to do, until he overheard May speaking with Andrew. He knew that he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but he caught just a snippet of their conversation. Simmons was considering letting others into the containment room with her.

That was a milestone in her recovery, and Fitz felt a surge of pride for her. Then, he started to think, and before long he had the bare bones of a plan.

Now, he was stood outside of the containment room, about to put his plan into action, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous. He curled his shaking hand into a fist, then straightened down the front of his shirt. In his other hand he held a bag full of what he needed for his plan.

He took a steadying breath, before opening the door and stepping inside.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He said as the door slid closed behind him.

Simmons looked up from the book that she had been reading, frowning at him. His appearance and the ball of nerves she could feel in his stomach confused her.

He wasn’t too surprised by that (though the wave of confusion he felt from her  _ was _ surprising. That would probably take some getting used to). He was dressed neatly, as if he was preparing to go out somewhere.

“I think I should be saying that to you.” She responded, shutting her book and looking him up and down. “Do you have plans?”

“Uh, yeah.” He inched towards her table, setting his bag down on the chair beside it and opening it. “With- uh- with you. If you- if you don’t mind?”

“With me?” Simmons echoed.

Fitz pulled an item out of his bag - a fancy tablecloth - and draped it over her table. Next, he retrieved an electric candle, turning it on and setting it in the middle of the table. After that came placemats and coasters, and when the table was finished he moved on, pulling out a string of fairy lights and looking around the room for the best place to hang them.

Simmons watched him work in confusion at first, then when she realised what he was doing, she began to laugh quietly. “Fitz. What is all of this?”

Fitz looked up from where he was balanced on a chair, trying to hook the fairy lights over the corner of the pod.

“It’s, um, well, I just thought, our last- uh- our last date was interrupted - I don’t blame you for it, you didn’t have any control over that - so I thought that maybe we could try again?” He paused, then added in a quick breath: “But, of course, if you don’t feel up for it right now, or even if you’ve changed your mind about dating altogether, then that’s okay. We can just have a platonic dinner as friends. Or I could leave, I know you might be tired, this might still be too overwhelming, and--”

“It’s sweet.” Simmons cut in, and Fitz was bowled over by the warm feeling that was being projected from her. She stood up from where she was seated and walked over to him, reaching her hand out for the fairy lights. “Let me try.”

Fitz hopped down from the chair, surprised that he hadn’t fallen, and let her climb up. After a few moments of intense concentration on Simmons part, the fairy lights were balancing over the corner of the containment pod.

Fitz turned them on, then darted over to the control panel and dimmed the main lights in the room. He liked to think that the fairy lights and electric candle made the room more atmospheric.

He returned to the table, pulling out the last items from his bag - glasses, and a bottle of wine. Then he darted around to the opposite side, pulling Simmons chair out for her, just as he had on their last attempt at a date.

Fitz felt that same warm feeling flow from her to him, and he smiled brightly down at her as she took her seat. Fitz walked back around to his seat, and picked up the bottle of wine, though with how his hand shook he was worried that he would end up spilling it all over the table cloth.

Simmons reached out, putting her hands around his, and helping him to hold the bottle steady. Together they poured the wine into their glasses, before setting the bottle back down at the centre of the table.

“There’s, um, there is food. Or, there will be.”

“I did assume so.” Simmons spoke with a slightly teasing tone, though Fitz noticed that she wasn’t quite meeting his gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Simmons finally looked up at him for a moment, before glancing away again. “This is just… it’s all very sweet.”

“Is it too much?”

“Not exactly…”

Fitz felt a strange, uncomfortable twisting in his gut, and realised quickly that it was being projected from Simmons, but before he had the opportunity to ask her about it, there was a knock at the door.

“Uh, that’s- it’s probably- that’ll be food, so- I should- I should get it.”

Simmons gave a small nod and Fitz jumped up from the table, darting across the room and answering the door. Stood on the other side was Hunter, looking at Fitz with a smirk and holding out his first plate of food. Fitz took it and put it down in front of Simmons, before returning for the other.

“Bon appetit, Casanova.” Hunter said, and winked.

Fitz rolled his eyes, and shut the door on Hunter.

After Fitz returned to the table, the pair began to eat in silence, and Fitz felt an uncomfortable prickling on his skin, though he was unsure if that came from him, or from Simmons. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he didn’t want to push, or bring up something that she would rather leave behind.

Was it right to quiz her on her emotions, anyway? Were emotions not better kept private? Fitz didn’t know what the appropriate way to proceed here was.

After a few minutes of silence, Simmons spoke up. “I’m sorry.”

Fitz looked up at her in surprise. “Wh- what? What are you sorry for?”

She gestured vaguely. “This. I wish that we could have had a proper first date. You shouldn’t have to go out of your way like this.”

Suddenly, Fitz understood what that feeling in his gut had been. Guilt.

“Hey.” He spoke gently, “I don’t have to do anything. I- I wanted to do this. I wanted you to know that if- if you still- still want to, uh, to talk about it, then I do, too.”

The twisting in his gut continued, so Fitz quickly continued, “Jemma, you didn’t make me- make me do anything. It’s better like this, anyway. Who- who wants a picture perfect first date? This is more us.”

Simmons smiled and breathed out a quiet laugh. “I suppose you’re right.”

That feeling in his gut didn’t completely disappear, but he was relieved to find that it had died down. It seemed that what he had said had helped.

They continued to eat in silence for a while. Fitz tried to start a conversation a few times, but nothing seemed to stick. They were both overthinking things - while they could talk for days when they were viewing each other as their best friends, now that they were seeing each other in a different light, they weren’t quite sure what to say.

Then, Simmons mentioned a documentary that she had watched, and it was as if someone had lit a spark. The two began discussing the topic of the documentary - the Amazon Rainforest - animatedly. Simmons empathetically spoke of the effects of deforestation, and Fitz regaled her with facts about the nine species of monkey that lived in the Amazon Rainforest.

They remained seated when they finished their meals, their conversation moving on from the Amazon Rainforest to everything and everything that they could think of. This was where they thrived - speaking about science and the natural world came easily to them.

When the next knock came to the door, Fitz almost missed it with how enthused he was in the current topic of conversation. Even after he realised that there was someone waiting for his attention, he almost didn’t want to pause the conversation, but he knew that he had to.

He headed towards the door, and this time it was Bobbi stood on the other side. He took the deserts she had been holding to the table, and passed her their empty plates. She returned them to the trolley she had brought with her, then looked up at Fitz.

“You remember your plan?” She checked.

Fitz nodded and fiddled with his hands nervously.

Bobbi smiled and pet Fitz’s arm. “Don’t overthink it. You’ve got this.”

With those parting words she headed off, and Fitz shut the door behind her.

“What was that about?” Simmons asked curiously, cutting into her stack of pancakes.

Fitz took his seat back and pushed his ice cream around his bowl idly. “There was… actually something that I wanted to talk to you about.”

Simmons frowned. “Okay.”

“A few things, really. Um…” He tried to organise his thoughts. “I- I really- I’d like to go on more dates with you. In the future. If that’s something that you’d like.”

“It is. But I get the impression that there’s something else?”

“Yeah. It’s just…” Fitz sighed. “We don’t really- we don’t talk about things. Not- not what we should. I just- I realised, that there are things that I want to be able to talk to you about, and- and I want to be able to- I want to clear the air.”

Simmons took a bite of her pancake and gave a nod. After swallowing, she said, “Okay. Then let’s talk.”

Fitz took a breath. “When you took that drug, and- and when you were- were catatonic- I was really scared.”

Simmons looked away.

“I’m not- I’m- I’m not saying it to- to make you upset.” Fitz tried to explain. “But I was… I was scared. Seeing you hurt, it was- I was scared that you wouldn’t be okay.”

Simmons swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise that would happen.”

“I don’t want you to apologise.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I just- I- I want to- to be able to understand. I want to know why.”

“...This… ability, it’s… I was afraid of it. And I hated it, for keeping me isolated. I just thought that if it was gone, everything could go back to how it used to be.”

“But you didn’t know the side effects.” Fitz’s tone wasn’t confrontational - he was trying to understand. “Was going back to before really worth unknown consequences?”

“Yes.” Simmons replied simply.

“Jemma…”

“I don’t feel the same way now.” She continued, “Or… not in the same way. I’m not going to take anything else.”

Fitz gave a little smile. “I’m glad. I was really worried.”

“I know. And I’m sorry for scaring you. I know what that feels like.”

Fitz blinked. “You do?”

Simmons stared at him as if he was dense. Fitz continued looked back at her obliviously.

“Well,” She began, her tone dry, “Someone decided to sacrifice himself for me while we were stranded at the bottom of the ocean.”

“That’s not really the same thing.”

Simmons gave him an incredulous look. “How is it not the same?”

“I had to do it.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Fitz was aware that this was dangerous territory. He could feel a powerful emotion stirring in Simmons. But he couldn’t understand what she was saying. He hadn’t had any choice - it had been between him and her, and he would pick her safety over hers a thousand times over. It wasn’t even a choice.

“We don’t have to talk about this.”

“You did say that you wanted to clear the air.” Simmons pointed out.

Fitz groaned. He should have expected her to use his own words against him. “Okay. Look, it made sense. My arm was broken, I wouldn’t have been able to swim up there. One of us surviving would’ve been better than us both drowning, it’s simple maths. And, anyway, we both- we- we turned out okay.”

There was a strange look on Simmons face, and Fitz felt an emotion he couldn’t name coming from her. “It’s not maths. It was your life. You didn’t even give us a chance to think of another plan.”

“There wouldn’t have been another plan.” Fitz said gently, “It was our best shot, and it worked.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Simmons allowed. “But you didn’t give me the choice.”

“You were never going to agree.”

“It wasn’t up to you to make that decision for me.”

“You would’ve let yourself die down there. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“ _ But I could? _ ” Simmons demanded, raising her voice.

Fitz couldn’t reply, bowled over by the intensity of emotion coming from Simmons. Despair, fury, guilt, and countless other emotions - so many that he couldn’t even begin to name all of them. He felt almost as if he was in the ocean, being pulled around by waves, unable to breathe as his head dipped under the surface, exhausted as the water clung to his clothes and weighed him down, holding tightly to something precious, it was weighing him down like a deadweight but he couldn’t let it go, and-

Wait.

No, that wasn’t right.

That wasn’t him.

He wasn’t the one gasping for air in the ocean.

He was the deadweight.

What was happening?

Fitz blinked heavily, focusing on the way his hand trembled, and untangled himself from Simmons powerful emotions. With his mind safely back in the room, he took a breath, and looked over at Simmons. She was shaking, and there was a distant look on her face.

He forced a calm to come to his panicked thoughts as he realised what was happening. He stood from his chair and cautiously walked over to her side of the table. “Jemma?” He called out gently, but she didn’t react.

He reached forward and placed his hand on top of hers. He could feel her fingers twitch underneath his palm, and took that as a victory. “Jemma, it’s okay.” He tried again, “Everything’s okay. We’re safe. You’re safe.”

Her reaction wasn’t immediate, but eventually she sucked in a shaky breath, and moved her head so that she was looking at him. Her eyes were wide and full of tears, and he could still feel the remnants of those overpowering emotions coming from her.

“Hey.” He greeted softly.

“Hi.”

She took her hand away from his and wiped at her face and, strangely, Fitz felt the emotions that he had previously been able to feel coming from her suddenly cut off. He wasn’t sure what that meant, and didn’t feel that now was the time to pry.

“I’m fine.” She told him. He assumed that she could feel his concern.

“That was a flashback. Wasn’t it?” Fitz asked.

Simmons swallowed thickly. “It’s fine.”

Fitz didn’t believe that for a second, but he understood Simmons. She didn’t want to seem weak. She didn’t want him to worry over her. Of course, he’d worry about her no matter what she said, but there were other ways to go about it.

“Why don’t we get more comfortable?” He offered her his hand again and, after a moment’s hesitation, she took it.

He led her over to the sofa and sat down beside her on it. She settled close to him, resting her head against his shoulder. She was exhausted, and he couldn’t find it in himself to blame him. He knew how tiring flashbacks could be from experience.

He didn’t intend on bringing up their previous conversation again. Not now, at least. He didn’t want it to be ignored - not if it caused her this level of distress - but he had wanted to give her something pleasant. He didn’t want to upset her more.

However, she seemed to have different ideas.

“I just don’t want to lose you.” She said, her voice having lost the fight that it had earlier.

He wrapped an arm around her waist. “That’s not something that’s ever going to happen.”

“I hope you’re right.”

They stayed like that for a while longer. Fitz enjoyed being so close to her, and if the warm sensation that he was beginning to feel from her again was anything to go off, then she enjoyed it, too.

After a while, she shifted, moving so that she could look at him. She had a strange look in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place. He frowned down at her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She said, her tone making it blatantly obvious that it wasn’t ‘nothing’. “I was just thinking that you really are quite the gentleman, aren’t you?”

“U-uh, I guess?”

“Is this really it, Fitz?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Simmons frowned. “You’re not going to try to kiss me?”

Fitz stared down at her with wide eyes, a light blush coming to his cheeks. “You- You- You just had a flashback, that’s- it’s- it’s no- not- not appropriate.”

“What if I said that I wanted to kiss you?”

His blush deepened. “Tha- that’s- it’s still- you need to- you need to rest, and- and you’re probably not thinking straight, and-”

Simmons cut him off by leaning up and gently pecking his lips.

For a moment, Fitz stared at her, and Simmons worried that he actually hadn’t wanted to kiss her, but before that train of thought could get too far, he leaned in and kissed her in return, his hand coming up to hold the back of her head.

And then, something unexpected happened.

Fitz had kissed people before. He hadn’t dated much, but he had a small number of girlfriends and boyfriends in the past, and he knew what it felt like to kiss someone. However, he had never kissed anyone with emotional transference abilities before.

The warmth that he had been feeling coming from Simmons over the course of the evening intensified, and felt as if it traveled to every part of his body, from his fingers down to his toes. A small gasp left him at the sensation, and he could feel Simmons hands fisting his shirt. At a guess, he’d imagine that she was feeling a similar way.

The sensation was intoxicating, and Simmons deepened the kiss to make it grow. It was almost blinding, and Fitz wanted to make it consume him - he wanted to go further, to prove what he felt for Simmons, and to never part from her.

But he pulled back.

Breathing heavily, he leaned back against the sofa, a distant expression on his face. “Wow.”

“If kissing is like that, then-” Simmons began, stopping when Fitz let out an embarrassed squeak.

For a period, the only sound in the room was their breaths and their rapid heartbeats, but eventually Simmons spoke up again. “I had no idea that it would feel like that.”

“Me neither.”

Simmons looked over at him and smiled. Her smile was broader than any he had seen on her face for a long time - he thought the last time he had seen an expression like that on her face was the day that they had arrived at the Bus, ready to join Coulson’s mobile team.

“I had no idea that this could be so beautiful.”

Fitz shared her smile. “Maybe we could test it together.” Then, after a pause: “I- I didn’t mean- I just- I meant- we don’t know much about your powers so we need to experiment with them more, I didn’t mean that- that we should- not that I don’t want to, it’s just- just a bit soon and I don’t think it’s a good idea to move too fast after everything- there’s- there’s still a lot we need to discuss, and-”

Simmons laughed, cutting him off. Fitz looked at her, startled, for a moment before he began to laugh, too.

Everything had gone to hell in a whole number of ways over the past year but, Fitz thought, maybe now things could begin to be okay again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! thank you all for sticking with this until the end, it means a lot! i'm going to have a longer a/n at the end, but yeah. thank you all!!
> 
> as always, kudos/comments give me the power to fight an army
> 
> i hope that you enjoy!

The containment room that Simmons had been occupying for the past couple of months was nearly empty. The odd bits and pieces that Fitz had brought down for her were packed neatly in a bag, ready to be returned to her normal sleeping quarters. Finally, for the first time since the beginning of this madness, she felt fully able to return to her previous life.

Though, perhaps that wasn’t really wasn’t happening. She was going back to her room. She was going to return to the lab, and her old role within SHIELD, but things weren’t going to return to normal. They never would and, Simmons was coming to realise, that may not be such a terrible thing.

Just as she finished putting the last book in her bag, she heard the tell-tale sound of the door sliding open, and looked over to see May stood in the doorway.

“You’re ready?” May asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Simmons spoke with a slightly forced smile. May raised an eyebrow, and Simmons let out a sigh before continuing, “I am slightly nervous.”

May nodded and walked over, picking up one of Simmons bags. “That’s to be expected.”

Simmons had spent the past couple of weeks gradually exposing herself to more people - she wasn’t suddenly returning to the general population. But, even so, this felt like a big step. It felt quite final. It would be difficult to back down from this, if it became too much.

Simmons adjusted the strap of her bag against her shoulder, before the two women headed out of the containment room. Simmons paused as she stepped over the threshold, looking back at the room, before letting the door slide shut. That part of her life was over. It was time to move on.

In silence, they walked through the base. Simmons practiced letting her powers reach out from the comfort of May’s calm, feeling the emotions of other nearby agents. She felt a burst of happiness, quickly followed by the low drag of disappointment, suddenly coming from a room to her side, and when she looked in she saw Piper, having triumphantly won a card game against Davis.

She refocused her attention onto May’s steady emotions, letting the calm wash over her, before letting her mind wander again.

May came to a halt, and Simmons recognised her room. She hadn’t been back here since the night that she had first undergone terrigenesis. After unlocking the door she stepped inside. Aside from a few missing books, that were safely in her bags, everything was exactly as she had left it. Though it had only been a couple of months, she felt a strangely nostalgic feeling.

May set the bag she was carrying down beside the door. Simmons looked over at her, and paused.

“Yes?” May asked, not needing to feel Simmons curiosity to know that she wanted to ask something.

“It’s just…” Simmons hesitated, trying to choose her words. “I am very grateful for everything that you have done for me. I don’t think I would be able to accurately express just  _ how _ grateful I am, really. But… I have been wondering - why?”

“I care about you, Simmons.”

“No, I mean- I guessed that. I suppose what I really wanted to ask wasn’t why, but how? I don’t really understand how you knew those mindfulness techniques would work.”

Now it was May’s turn to pause. Simmons felt an emotion that she hadn’t felt from May before - something there just underneath the perpetual calm. Caution, perhaps?

“I met an Inhuman, once, who could control emotions.” May finally began, speaking carefully. Though she was still the same stoic May, there was a certain vulnerability to her that Simmons hadn’t expected. “I spent years wondering what could have saved her. This was what I came up with.”

Simmons smiled at May and, after dropping her bag on the floor, crossed the space between them and pulled her into a tight hug. May stood still, startled, but after a moment awkwardly hugged Simmons in return.

“Thank you, May.”

“You’re welcome, Jemma.”

Simmons pulled away from the hug and took a few steps backwards. “I should probably unpack.”

May nodded and, to Simmons surprise, she saw that there was a gentle smile on her face, and a warm feeling underneath her usual calm - it took Simmons a moment before she recognised the feeling as pride.

May turned, and left the room, shutting the door gently behind her. With the memory of that warm feeling in her mind, Simmons got to work unpacking, organising her books back on the shelves, organising them based on topic and date, of course. Alphabetised systems were far too basic.

.   
  


After an hour had passed, there came a knock at her door.

“Come in!” Simmons called out.

The door opened almost instantly, and Simmons didn’t need to look to see who was there. She could feel the uncontrollable energy that always came with Daisy. She suspected that she would be able to feel it even without her powers.

“It’s so great to see you finally free!” Daisy said, crossing the room and sitting down heavily on Simmons bed.

Simmons smiled over at her friend. “It is nice to be back in my own room. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed it.”

“Nothing’s been touched. Fitz went mad if anyone even implied they wanted to come in here. It was pretty funny.”

Simmons laughed quietly, but felt a rise of fondness for her - well, she wasn’t sure what Fitz was to her right now. They should have a conversation about that soon.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Daisy broke the silence, getting straight to the point.

“Oh? What is it?”

“The Secret Warriors.”

Simmons looked over at Daisy with a frown. She hadn’t heard of this before.

“It’s a team that Coulson gave me the go-ahead to assemble. A special team of Inhuman agents - with the way the world is changing, human agents aren’t always going to cut it. Having a specialised team could be the difference between winning or failing. Not to mention having a sense of community like that - knowing that your powers can be used to help others… well, I’ve found that really helpful. And, on a personal level, there’s no one I’d want to have more than you.”

Simmons stayed silent for a few moments to process that information. For the past months, she’d seen her powers as a burden at best - actively harmful to others at worst. But perhaps Daisy was right. Since she had begun to receive instruction by May, she had begun to realise that her powers weren’t all bad. There were parts of them that were beautiful and, perhaps, there were parts that could even be helpful in the field.

She thought back to earlier today. She had felt Piper and Davis’ emotions before she saw them. If she practiced, perhaps she could scan enemy bases entirely by herself, on a level that technology couldn’t yet replicate. Perhaps she could practice how to recognise emotions associated with lying, and help during diplomatic missions.

There were many ways that her powers could help her at SHIELD, Simmons realised.

“Can…” She finally responded, “Can you give me some time to think it through?”

Daisy nodded immediately. “Of course. I get that it’s a big ask. But I really think we could all benefit from it, you know?”

“I know.” Simmons set her last book on her shelf. “But, for now, I think I would like to see the rest of our friends.”

Daisy beamed, jumping up from her seat on Simmons bed. “Come on. Everyone’s going to be so happy to see you.”

.

In the common room, Bobbi and Hunter were sat, having an animated argument with no real fire behind it. Simmons would have been content to watch for a while, but Daisy grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room fully.

“Hey, look what I found.” Daisy interrupted, pulling Simmons to sit on the sofa beside her. Immediately, she was the center of attention.

Hunter raised up the beer he had been nursing into a cheer for her, “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Bobbi rolled her eyes heavily at Hunter’s comment. “What he means is: it’s good to see you around again.”

“It’s good to see you both.” Simmons spoke with a fond smile.

The sensations rolling off of Bobbi and Hunter were completely different but, in their own ways, comforting. Hunter was rougher around the edges, and she could feel real anger burning, though for the moment it was buried under the pleasant filter of alcohol. Despite the anger, nothing about Hunter felt dangerous. He felt more like a blade with its edges sanded down - the potential for danger was there, if he ever chose to sharpen himself, but for now he was perfectly safe.

There was a lot going on under the surface with Bobbi, too. Some anger, but a lot of anxiety coiled up. Simmons couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be until that anxiety burst free, but she didn’t worry too much. She trusted that Bobbi would use it productively. On the surface, there was nothing but contentedness. Bobbi wasn’t giving much thought to what was lurking underneath for now.

The conversation picked up again, and Simmons engaged with it - until she felt someone else nearby. She began glancing to the door, and felt a spark of amusement as Bobbi realised what was happening, until Fitz stepped into the room.

Fitz looked over and saw her, and Simmons felt a surge of happiness coming from him. She shifted up to give him some room to sit down beside her, and he quickly took her up on her silent request. 

When he was settled beside her, she moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt a jolt of surprise and warmth coming from him, and she had to try not to smirk as he moved, wrapping his arm around her.

Daisy, Bobbi and Hunter continued to converse with each other, either unaware of the moment FitzSimmons were sharing, or trying to give them some degree of privacy.

“I just spoke with Coulson.” Fitz spoke quietly.

“Hm?”

“You’ve been cleared to come and work in the lab again. There are still some artefacts from Afterlife that he wants us to look over. They’ve… not really been my priority lately.”

It felt fitting, to Simmons. Starting back where they left off.

“I suppose we can start back with that tomorrow, then.”

Fitz nodded.

“But… well, it’s not tomorrow yet.” Simmons continued. She had Fitz’s attention.

“U-Uh, y-yeah, you’re right, it’s- uh- it’s not- not- not tomorrow. What did, what did you have in mind?”

Simmons had to try not to laugh. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Y-yeah?”

Suddenly, she felt nervous, but she’d started, so she wanted to finish. “I was wondering if you would like to make things official?”

There was complete silence from Fitz.

“Fitz?”

“Oh. U-Uh, yeah- I- I’d- I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

A cheer came from across the room, and the pair looked up to see that their friends conversation had stopped. Daisy, Bobbi and Hunter were staring at them with grins, and Hunter had been the one to cheer. He set his beer aside and clapped his hands loudly.

“Good on you, mates!” He congratulated them.

Daisy turned her grin to Hunter. “I wouldn’t get too happy if I was you. Pay up.”

Simmons blinked in confusion.

Hunter sighed, sticking his hand into his pocket and pulling out five dollars. “This is all I’ve got right now.”

Daisy took the money and pocketed it. “I’ll expect the rest tomorrow.”

“Wh-wh-what’s happening?” Fitz stuttered out.

“There’s been a bet running for a while about how long it’ll take you two to get together.” Bobbi explained.

“...What?” Simmons asked dryly, while Fitz began speaking at the same time: “Wait, is that why you were helping me with the food?”

An argument quickly broke out between Fitz and Hunter, with Hunter trying to defend his ‘financial decisions’, and Fitz calling bullshit on all of his points. The emotions between the pair began to rise, though while there was a time that would have caused Simmons distress, now it only made her feel more fondness towards her friends.

Finally, it seemed that she could start moving forwards.

.

The next day, FitzSimmons made their way to one of the vaults. They had looked through a few artefacts from Afterlife already, though it would take a more in-depth study to work out the true purpose of any of them.

“This one- uh- the Inhumans were afraid of it.” Fitz began to explain, showing her into the room. “No one knows why, though. Lots of people have been after it - it was what Mack and Bobbi were ordered to protect by Fury. We don’t really know what it is, but we’ve been calling it the Monolith.”

Simmons walked over to the Monolith, looking at it through the container. There was something strange about it that she couldn’t quite place - a sensation coming from it, almost as if it was alive, but not quite. She stepped closer to it, transfixed, then jumped back when it turned into liquid, sloshing against the container, before returning to its solid state. She leaned against the container once it had settled again, turning to face Fitz and not noticing as she nudged the latch loose.

“Yeah, and I- I have no idea why it does  _ that _ .”

Simmons hummed. “Perhaps we could take readings from inside the container, using one of the DWARFs?”

“Oh, that’s- that’s a- that’s a good idea.” Fitz began to back out of the room. “I’ll- I’ll get them. I won’t, uh, won’t be too long.”

Simmons watched him go, turning her gaze back to the Monolith. At this point, she noticed the loose latch. She reached out to fix it back in place, but just as her fingers brushed against the container, the Monolith turned to liquid once more.

The liquid crashed against the door of the container and, to Simmons horror, caused it to burst open. She tried to scramble back, but the dark liquid was too fast. Within less than a second it had completely submerged her, dragging her with it back into the open container. Then it returned to a solid, and the only sign that anything had even happened was her scream echoing around the room, and the door to the container left open.

Outside of the vault, Fitz had felt an overwhelming burst of terror from Simmons, and he quickly changed course, rushing back to the Vault to make sure that everything was okay. But when he arrived, there was nothing there. Nothing but an empty room and an open container.

He walked across the room, shutting and locking the container. Then he started to look around the room, his mind racing with the possibilities of what had happened. But no matter how much he looked, he could find no sign of Simmons.

“Jemma?” He called out to the room, his voice echoing around the space.

But there was no response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh. yeah i was always going to end this with her being sent to maveth, and i intend to write more in this au at some point. i have a lot of thoughts about how things go differently on maveth
> 
> i dont know what to write next though, so if you have some free time i'd appreciate it if you could vote in my strawpoll! it's multi-choice so just vote for anything that you'd read https://www.strawpoll.me/18852703
> 
> again, thank you all for reading this far! this is the first proper multi-chapter fic i've finished, and i've really appreciated all of the feedback i've gotten!! i hope that you've enjoyed reading as much as i've enjoyed writing!!


End file.
